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| Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (1905 - 2001) Her high school graduation photo |
My aunt recently found my grandmother’s diary and gave it to
me. It was dated 1920, and was one of
those little diaries given out by banks and businesses years ago, with three
days per page and five blank lines for each page. It had lost its cover so I couldn’t tell what
business gave out this little book (only three inches tall!). It
had sewn pages, and many were missing. In 1920 my grandmother turned 15 years
old. She kept her notes in pencil with
tiny, neat, miniscule handwriting.
My grandmother was Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, born 1 August
1905 in Beverly, Massachusetts. Her
parents were Arthur Treadwell Hitchings (1868 – 1937) and Florence Etta
Hoogerzeil (1871- 1941). Her father was
a draftsman at the United Shoe Corporation, and the family lived nearby in
corporate housing, near the USMC country club, at 45 Elliott Street in
Beverly. According to the 1920 Federal
census, she was living at home with her parents and five of her seven siblings
(one had died young, and her sister Helen had married a few years previous). Her brother Arthur Russell Hitchings married
during 1920. The siblings at home in
1920 were Russell, Hollis, Eunice, Gertrude, Gordon and Millie (also known as
Skeet).
I wanted to read the diary, but since it was so tiny I
figured I would scan it first and then transcribe from the images. This was better than handling the fragile
pages. Here is the first surviving pages in the book
(January 1 – 6 are missing).
Page 3
Wed. Jan. 7, 1920
Up at 7 went
to school
Home alone
all afternoon
Ma gone to
the Empire. Went
Skating down
to Crosby’s meadow
at half past
four. After supper
went down to
the shoe, home
At 9:30 went
to bed at 9:45
---------------------
Thursday 8
Got up at 7
went to
school home
all afternoon. Belle
came up 5:15
staid to supper
She was
awfull sick after supper
Went home 9
o’clock car
Played
baseball with
Papa and went to bed 9pm
-----------------------
Friday 9
Got up at 7
went to school.
It has
snowed hard all day.
Home all
afternoon and
worked. Marian came up after
supper went
to bed 9:30
[Notes: On January 7th Gertrude wrote that
her mother went “to the Empire”. This
was a department store in downtown Salem. Also “the
shoe” is the factory where her father worked, the United Shoe Machinery
Corporation.
On January 8th
the visitor “Belle” was Gertrude’s aunt Isabel Hoogerzeil (1888 – 1960), her
mother’s youngest sister. Belle
remained single until she married George Sorenson in 1936. She was 32 years old the year of the diary,
and married at age 48. The “car” she
went home on was a trolley car, not an automobile.]
Page 4
Sat. Jan.
10, 1920
Up at 8
o’clock worked
around the
house all the
morning. Went sliding over
at the golf
link in the afternoon home
at 5. After supper Gordon and
I went down
to the pictures. home at
9:45 went to
bed 10:15
------------------------------
Sunday 11
Up at 10:15
took a bath got
breakfast at
11. Stayed home all
morning. Went sliding over to
to the golf
links, Mr. Wilkins
came
down. Mr. Lowell came over
went home at
8:45. Mr. Wilkins and Russ
down to
Helen’s. went to bed at 9:45
---------------------------------
Monday 12
Up at 7
o’clcok went to
School got
home 1:15 went back for French 2:15 got home 3:45
Home all the
evening and
Studied went
to bed at 8pm
Have got an
awful cold.
[Notes: The golf links mentioned on January 10th
were probably the USMC golf course, which is now the Beverly Municipal Golf and
Tennis Club on McKay Street near the Cummings Center. "Gordon and I went to the pictures" means she went to the movies with her little brother. I
have no clue to the identity of the Mr. Wilkins or Mr. Lowell on the January 11th
entry. ]
Tues. Jan.
13, 1920
Up at 7
o’clcok went
to school
all morning home at
1:15 stayed
home all the
afternoon. Stayed home all
evening
Mildred and Eunice
Went
sliding. Cold is about the
same went to
bed at 9:15
-----------------------------------
Wednesday 14
Up at 7
Gordon has got the
Mumps. I went to school. Had
two exams
this morning. Home
at
1:15. My cold is some better.
Ma has gone
down to Helen’s the baby is
sick. Stayed home all evening
and studied
went to bed 9pm
----------------------------------
Thursday 15
Up at 7 went
to school
Awful cold
this morning
10 below
0. Home at 1:15 got
dinner. Mabel came up home all
afternoon
and evening. Gordon a
little
better, bed at 8 o’clock.
[Note: Helen was Gertrude’s eldest sister, and the
baby would have been Clemont Lowell born 17 November 1919 (almost two months
old on the date of this diary entry).
Gordon (with the mumps) was only 12 years old. Can you imagine 10 below zero degrees in
Beverly, Massachusetts in the days before good insulation, warm clothing and central
heat?]
I love diaries! Your grandmother was so lovely, and how fitting that the keeper of the family stories (you) should have her diary.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't they have had a coal furnace in 1920?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that. The house is gone now. I know that the house my grandmother lived in at 7 Dearborn Avenue, Beverly had a coal furnace in 1920.
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